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Josh Papalii robbed in Kangaroos' night out in Manchester ahead of Rugby League World Cup

Updated
Fri 18 Oct 2013, 9:36 AM AEDT

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Josh Papalii (right) was relieved of 200 pounds in northern England.

Getty Images: Stefan Postles

The Kangaroos' World Cup campaign has not gotten off to a good start with uncapped forward Josh Papalii robbed on the squad's first night in the UK.

The 24-man squad arrived from Sydney on Thursday (AEDT) and reportedly went to a Manchester nightclub.

Fairfax Media revealed on Thursday a member of the squad had been robbed during the night out and Australian team management was investigating.

It was revealed on Friday the player in question was Papalii. The 183-centimetre, 110-kilogram back-rower losing 200 pounds in the incident.

According to reports, the robbery occurred after the Raiders enforcer had taken money out of an ATM.

He was apparently talking to two locals when they struck.

The Australian team will stay at Manchester's Victoria and Albert Hotel for the majority of their time in England and team management has issued new information to players on how to stay safe.

"The players have been warned of a sting which targets party-goers in the Manchester area after a player lost a sum of money in suspicious circumstances," Kangaroos' development manager Andrew Hill said Thursday.

Papalii told police about the incident but did not reveal much of what happened and it appears the matter will not be taken further because of "the practicalities of it all".

"Police have spoken to a 21-year-old man in relation to an incident that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 17 October 2013," a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said.

"The man has not been able to fully recall what happened and therefore no offences have been recorded at this time."